Magstom reports an 'impressive' turnout at University College London (UCL) for the first Magstim transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) summer school, 25-26 May 2007
Magstom reports an 'impressive' turnout at University College London (UCL) for the first Magstim transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) Summer School, 25-26 May 2007.
Despite places being initially limited to 150 there was huge interest, and the venue had to be upgraded to seat 360 registered delegates.
The event was organised by Magstim, in collaboration with Professor Vincent Walsh of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and the department of psychology, UCL.
In addition to the conference there was an introductory day of lectures and practical sessions, and the Magstim Young Investigator Awards were presented on the first night.
The conference was truly international, with presentations from eminent academics and researchers within the fields of Neuroscience and Cognitive research from all around the world.
Topics covered a wide range of TMS research including: Pain and touch in action, by Professor Salvatore M Aglioti, University of Rome; TMS studies on memory, by Professor Simone Rossi, University of Sienna, Italy; Fronto-striatal functional interactions investigated with TMS/PET, by Professor Antonio Strafella, University of Toronto, Canada; and Investigations of attentional control and selectivity in vision, by Professor Martin Eimer, University of London.
Professor Paulo Armada da Silva commented on "the high scientific quality of the summer course that [Magstim] organised together with the ICN that made me realise the potential of magnetic stimulation for research in many areas".
Andrew Thomas of Magstim said, "We couldn't have asked for this weekend to be any better.
"It is testament to Professor Walsh's enthusiasm for the subject that everything went smoothly and the speakers were so well received.
"It was heartening to see the amount of interest, especially from younger, up-and-coming researchers".
During the evening reception on day one, the winners of the first Magstim Young Investigator Award were announced.
The awards were judged by a panel including some of the best-known researchers in the field of TMS including Michal Lavidor, Bar Ilan, Israel, Salvatore Aglioti, Rome, Italy and Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Harvard, USA.
Sven Bestmann, UCL, was awarded the TMS Methodology Prize for his work related to technical advances and/or new methodology, Cortical correlates of TMS-induced phantom hand movements revealed with concurrent TMS-fMRI.
Jacinta O'Shea, University of Oxford, was awarded the TMS Cognition Prize for her work in the field of cognitive neuroscience, Functionally specific reorganisation in human premotor cortex.
Each winner received a £500 prize.
